This is just a list of my makeup collection with a few notes about my preferences. I generally don’t do full on reviews of products because I don’t have that big of a collection, nor do I spend my hard earned cold hard cash on random “oh look shiny” makeup products…I would totally waste money if the TonyMoly Pokemon Pikachu compact came to America though…also anything Sailormoon packaged…

Normal generally, very oily eyelids, and redness in my cheeks (to the point that sometimes I skip blush if I don’t wear foundation or cushion). I don’t have super enlarged pores, overall oil issues, acne, or blemishes (lucky, I guess). I do get dark spots now when my whiteheads heal which didn’t happen before (yay, getting older). Because of that I’ve invested in trying out concealers and primers this year more-so that I have in the past.

I purposefully don’t wear full coverage makeup. My husband likes my freckles, so I let them show through. I also have a very dark mole on my left cheek, no way in the Grand Canyon would I ever waste product to cake layers just for that. Beauty mark? Beauty mark. XD

I’m also fairly picky where it comes to what I put on my face. If it breaks me out, it usually does so within a few hours which is painful and embarrassing. This is one of the reasons why I tend to wear expensive products from Sephora and Ulta instead of drugstore brands at Target and CVS/Wallgreens. I also don’t wear makeup every day, which extends the life of my makeup as well as makes the purchase more worthwhile. Wearing every other or third day with expensive brand products without breaking out vs every day with drugstore brand products and potentially breaking out…I haven’t done the exact math, but speaking in generalities I think it’s worth it.

I also don’t have a lot of money so I don’t like spending it on products that I will end up hating or never using. I take the time to read reviews from various retailers as well as subreddits: r/asianbeauty and r/makeupaddiction

Tools: Cotton swabs, ^^ Boscia blackhead brush (seriously, this thing and then a full face wash with the face brush and the Badescu Cleanser), and a face brush (this isn’t the exact one, but generally speaking), ^^ Etude House Kitty headband

<< ^^ ## Concealer – Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard (the jury is still out on this one, but so far it is the best concealer I’ve used. It does get a little dry/cakey around my eyes…but that’s probably due to the way I prep my skin and apply the product. Also I laugh a lot and definitely have the Korean smiling moon eyes lol, also owned by Shisedo so yes Asian beauty product).

Eyes:

I don’t use an eye-primer because I’ve never found one that works. The Colourpop shadows are very smooth and the color payoff is really good. The one downside to the SSS is that if they dry out they are harder to get product into a brush. These do go on much better with a finger, but I prefer to use an angled fluffy brush, synthetic fibers only!

Ok to be honest, I don’t own any blush that is labeled as blush. The DLS is the one I use the most often because it’s pink and convenient. I would use the Jelly Pong Pong duo more often, but it’s much more pigmented and I tend to be a bit heavy handed with the blush brush. And the container is kinda small, so getting the product is a little obnoxious. Duos are cool, two for the price of one, but not if I can’t get myself to use it. It was an Ipsy item, so I’m not super crushed that it cost me money, because it didn’t!

I scored on all three of these cheek products though really. All are full size samples and I use them frequently. So apparently also “strobing” is a thing? I’m not 100% sure what it is, but maybe I’m doing it in accident since I use a colored highlighter as a blush and then typical highlighter after that….hahaha

Other products and samples. A lot of these I got as a part of the Ipsy subscription. The great thing about Ipsy was that it is only $10/month and you get a cute makeup pouch and 5 decent sized samples, some full/deluxe! Anyways, on to the list:

{{ Nivea Creme

Makeup Forever HD Powder (I’ll use this again if I get a bottle of foundation, not bb/cc cream)

I usually keep a few lip colors, a mirror, my blotting paper, and a handkerchief in my bag collected in a little makeup pouch. I had an Ipsy account for a few months, so I just use those little pouches.

Youtuber Beauty Vloggers I follow:

Meejmuse – Lives in South Korea, from Australia so she has an interesting accent. Almost exclusively K-Beauty products with some Japanese and American brands thrown in there.

Edward Avila – HAA…just realized his username is mrpanda101. Anyways, fun to watch and in South Korea. Gives zero shits.

Princess Mei – I started watching her channel because of her halloween makeup. Lives in So-Cal, gives very little shits, but very into sweatshop free and vegan products.

I’ve yet to find anyone in Portland doing beauty vlogging which is a bummer. The weather conditions here are very very different from South Korea and California. Oh well. No I’m not going to do it myself because, No.

Shopping Pro-tips:

Don’t buy the full size of something new and/or you’ve never used before

Sephora has some really great sample gift sets

Sephora also has samples out on the floor of all their products, go test it out!

Some products are sold in smaller sizes. I take advantage of this when I want to try out a product before committing to a full size and a full price.

How to gently snuggle Lucy in various ways for various purr sound-effects.

1. The Basic Snuggle

The basic snuggle requires little to zero interaction. This is when Lucy is either nestled close by or partially on top of the lap. Her purrs at this point can either sound like a concerted effort or a small snorting type exhalation purr where the purr itself is a little harsh and easily heard between breaths.

2. The Hard Purr

The hard purr is much louder than the basic snuggle purr and is usually audible in the same way as the basic snuggle. The different being that it’s louder and comes about when one shifts or moves while Lucy is in a basic snuggle mode.

3. The I HATE YOU

Yes, Lucy purrs when she’s about to attack you. This usually comes about when she’s in any of her snuggle modes and you are moving too much for her to be comfortable. If your arms are moving at a rate she doesn’t like or in a motion she doesn’t like. The purrs get quieter and quieter, and when you least expect it. BITE.

4. The Eyes

Her most gentlest of purrs happen when she’s either fallen asleep or she’s making eye contact/blinking at me. This phase comes right before reaching extreme comfort mode and she falls asleep.

5. The Chest Purr – the rarest of purrs

This is her most rapid purr. To achieve this purr, one must gently accept the Lucy onto ones lap. And then if she wants a head or cheek rub one can gently snuggle Lucy’s head against the chest with both hands while keeping an eye on tail and ear signals. The purr is loud and rapid, which is different from the Hard Purr where it is just loud and sounds like she is laboring to purr as loud as possible.

Use alternating sets of stitch markers. You really need A and B markers so you don’t get lost. Do not use all markers of the same color/type. You will get lost.

When working the wrong side of the rows, that is when I would place a marker. This made it easier for me to whip through each row without having to double-triple count the number of stitches I needed before a wrap/turn.

Double wrap the working yarn around your pinky. This is particular to us that throw our yarn when knitting versus those of us that knit continental style. Since it is 100% silk it will help you not only hold the yarn, but keep tension as well without straining your wrist.

The piece will block out.

With the Gehry Wrap out of the way, I plowed through the rest of the Mayu Sweater. The last parts required were the sleeves, which is my least favorite part of knitting. To circumvent the lack of size 15 dpns, I decided to do make a few changes.

Since I had messed up and somehow managed to be 2 stitches short of what I should have been at the sleeves for the size I made, I cast on 1 more on each end of the sleeve underarm. This is cast-on, not pick-up and knit.

To even things out I added 1 more stitch at the end of the row. Where I should have had 30 stitches, I did 31. (3, 25, 3) Half a stitch is taken on each end of a row when seaming, so the 1 extra stitch essentially disappears.

I knit stst until desired 8″ length careful to count as I go so that I could duplicate the correct number of rows for the second sleeve. After the third decrease, switched to smaller needles, purl 1 row (ws row), begin cuff ribbing (rs row).

Seam up the arm from the cuff, seam the underarm, block, enjoy!

I’m currently wearing it and since it is made of a slick, yet puffy, superwash bulky weight yarn (Biggo from Knitpicks), it grew quite a bit after washing. While drying it I was almost afraid it was going to be dress length! Luckily for me, it grew just the right amount. =)

Two weeks into our third year of marriage and I have to say I’ve gotten two things that I severely needed, more than jewelry, more than yarn (yep):

Emotional support

Family time

At the beginning of the month we had a surprise visit from my cousin Janet and her husband Kannan. We had just seen them in California the weekend before for their wedding. Later, her sister Laura flew in and we all went out to lunch! omnomnomnom, Thai street food!

And of course, my husband has to make a weird face. lol

Laura stayed a few days and we hung out talking about everything from makeup, to family, to life in general. Made me so happy to be able to reconnect with my cousins even though we haven’t had quality time since…I don’t even remember. It’s been too long! I sometimes play with the idea of going south for the winter to see my family, but something always manages to come up, distract, or drain my holiday funds before I can settle on an itinerary.

The next day we went around and showed Laura Mississippi Ave and walked around for a little bit. I found some HUGE textile bobbins at a shoes store!

We also happened upon a shop that sells the entire range of Tokyo Milk! This pretty much sets me up for life for gifts for a particular friend. Never have to worry about what to get her ever again and I get to support a local small business! Double win for me! =D Flutter also has an assortment of cute hair accessories, notebooks, magnets, and other useful house ware nick-knacks.

As we wandered we ran into a friend of ours, Lauren. She was there with a friend on the hunt for lunch. Laura later noted that she really liked the fact that one could wander down a street and run into someone you know. That’s something I feel is very positive Portland and common for smaller-mid size communities.

Though we’ve had a huge influx of people over the past 5 years that small-town feel is somehow surviving. I’m happy that there’s still some positive in the sea of overwhelming negative (homeless population in Portland seems like it’s about 20% because of how much it is reported, and how little the city is active in improving the situation).

Lucy also enjoys the toilet on occasion. She sat and waited while we were getting ready to go out. She doesn’t like being left out of the know. Her mood since we’ve been back from Europe doesn’t seem to have changed as much as when we left for a week last year for Costa Rica. Maybe 2 and a half weeks is too long and she forgot about us?

In any case, I think from now on we’ll only do a week at a time if possible. She’s getting older, and calmer thankfully, but still a wiley little butt-munch that needs our full attention, when she wants it, at her convenience, because cat.

We dolled up and headed out to Hokusei, which is now Fukami. Had geoduck and Uni nigiri for the first time and I think I’m hooked! Geoduck is much tastier than muscles, scallops, clams, surf clam, and ika combined! It’s like all of them in one gloriously sweet and savory semi-solid textured omnomnom. And Uni. omg Uni.

Fukami itself is a really great experience. There are two menu items and a nigiri menu. They had real wasabi root that they ground fresh for each piece of nigiri as well as a curated set of dishes and a dessert. The dining room is limited to the counter and one 4-top table. It’s very intimate and you get to chat with the chefs too.

This past weekend we also went out and walked around a bunch, just my Jonathan and me. The master plan was to hit the Rose City Comic Con, but we didn’t quite make it there. Instead we did about 30 miles of urban exploration over two days.

I’d post our route, but I don’t want to publicly post where I live…so…just trust that we walked a lot haha.

The community mural on 39th between Belmont and Hawthorne has some new additions:

All the Toast Ghosts had different quips and one liners. This one is my favorite of the loaf.

Obnoxiously, it seems some pea-brained gangster-wannabe spray painted a gang sign over an actual art piece that was posted up there. =( Fortunately there are plenty of other contributions that don’t appear to be negatively affected.

…now that I look at it I should have gotten a better shot of the mountain and moon triangle piece in the bottom left corner. Oh well, it doesn’t look like it will rain soon so I may be able to get back there in time for a good photo of it.

At the waterfront I finally decided to take a picture of this weird sticker. I’ve seen it before on a few occasions, but yesterday it really was shouting out to me. How can I say no to neon and clip art?

I can say no to going to their website. Anyone out there brave enough to grab some screenshots for me?

Also, Mr. Grumpus

At Mt Tabor yesterday there were also a lot of photo opportunities. I got a few shots of the reservoir and the downtown cityscape behind it.

So I don’t consider myself exactly photogenic, but I enjoy the occasional couples selfie. Husband…not as enthusiastic. hahaOn our way down to the lower reservoir the road twists around the northern part of the park towards a switchback to get to the upper reservoir gate. There a Caterpie pokemon spawned at the same time I saw a real caterpillar in the road! He was quite a fat and juicy looking specimine that probably fell off of a tree branch high above us.

Naturally I wanted to save it. I like small weird squishy bug type things (spiders not included).

It was decided that the little guy was not a Caterpie, but a Weedle. As Jonathan went to scoop it with a leaf it flailed quite wildly and almost pricked him with the horn on it’s head.

A caterpillar with a horn, definitely a Weedle! He tried again with a stick, and the caterpillar struck again at the stick. Pokemon: the struggle is real, in the wild. Unfortunately, with direct sunlight the camera app in the Pokemon Go game is really terrible. The graphic for the Caterpie is pretty good while the fat, juicy, green caterpillar is all washed out. It was nearly as green as the Caterpie.

Finally reaching the lower reservoir via some precariously steep and narrow concrete access stairs I grabbed another shot of the area. I’m not sure who’s idea it was that our reservoirs look like castles, but I thoroughly enjoy our gothic looking architecture. I think these may have been built in or around the same era as a lot of the work done along the Historic Columbia Highway, Highway 26 to the coast in the Cascade mountain range, and Route 101 along the coastline. There are very similar ramparts along the roads at various vista points and pullouts.

Work has begun on the technical spinning project I have planned. So far so good on the Zwarbles sample I have. It’s surprisingly incredibly easy to draft!

Here’s a few upclose shots of the fiber:

So far it seems the fiber has been expertly prepared. I’m excited about this because I like spinning natural fibers to ply against more colorful custom dyed commercial tops.

Recently I was tasked with writing up a quick form to interact with a REST API. Basically this API was homegrown in the office and I never had reason to use it until now. And like with most homegrown projects, documentation is a little sketchy. I’ve never had to write a form on it’s own independent of a CMS (Drupal, WordPress, X-Cart) so hopefully my notes here help someone else out.

Here’s the basics:

Form submits and does four things (each are REST API calls in PHP using cURL):

check if a database account record exists

create database account record

create database account listing

create database listing association

Form returns success – forwards to response page

Here’s the requirements:

Form will be interacted with in an iFrame (outside my control)

Some fields are pre-populated based on the GET URL parameter string (also outside my control)

Some fields hold unique input data

Action is POST to self (not a requirement, but I did it this way for simplicity’s sake. If there’s some major security error with doing it this way please tell me.)

Here’s what helped me tremendously:

Your file is not an .html file, .php yo (This should be obvious, but hey not everyone knows. If you’re trying to post an html document, you’re going to have a bad time)

Know what format the data should be in. As much as it pained me, the rest API I was using required a json string array instead of json object array. (Sad pandas).

PHP json_encode() and json_decode() are your friends.

Some other notes:

For this particular project I wasn’t too concerned about security because of where the form ultimately exists and how it is called to begin with. Some basic error handling via javascript was added to ensure all fields were filled and check boxes checked before the form submission. Some basic variable string checks were added as well. As a base theme I went with Bootstrap to keep things simple and uniform. A little overkill, maybe.

Ok so remember back around Christmas I bought her this mega-blinged out collar. It seemed kind of heavy and I felt bad about it (and she had scratched off a few of the rhine stones, I have no idea where they went) so a few months later I went and got her a light cotton collar. Unfortunately, the fabric must have been a poly-cotton blend because Miss. Lucy has a bald ring around her neck. It’s been too hot this past August for her undercoat to come in so it’s just there…staring at me when she comes in for a snuggle.

Poor kitty.

But lesson learned. Leather collar or nothing. Hand made stuff has the best of intentions, but my poor cat looks goofy af.

She doesn’t really seem to notice it. She hasn’t scratched or scraped or anything like that. It’s in a spot she can’t lick either, thank goodness!

Now…if she’d only hold still so I could take a picture and embarrass her on the internet…

Narf! Pinky is one of my all time favorite cartoon characters. Sure he wasn’t all brains, like Brain, but his unique way of looking at the world and his creative intelligence, though a mouse cartoon, is just as important to embrace in society today as a PHD. So I have named my shawl made with Beachy Keen gradient kit by Fierce Fibers the Narf! Shawl.

(note: the shawl is really easy to knit, however my instructions are not detailed enough for a beginner, sorry…this is my first pattern, ever. Please bear with me! If you see anything amiss, please don’t hesitate to contact me on Ravelry.)

Narf! Shawl:

Yarn: 1 gradient kit by Fierce Fibers in the Beachy Keen color way, or any other set of 5 colors of fingering weight yarn.

Gauge is not important as the shawl is designed to use up all the yarn from the gradient kit. When a row cannot be completed, set aside the remaining yardage for the tassel. =)

Size: approximately 51″ wide x 18.5″ deep

Tools:

Size US 7 (4.5mm) 24″ or longer circular needles

the Loome tool or 3″ piece of cardboard

Darning needle

Scissors

Blocking supplies

Abbreviations:

M1R – make 1 increase right leaning (insert left needle into bar between stitches, back to front, knit into the front loop)

M1L – make 1 increase left leaning (insert left needle into the bar between stitches, front to back, knit into the back loop)

yo – yarn over

ssk – slip, slip, knit

k2tog – knit 2 stitches together

psso – pass slipped stitches over

Basic Construction:

Start with a garter tab. Cast on 3 stitches and work 8 rows. With 3 stitches still on the needle, pick up 5 stitches evenly along the edge and 3 at the other end for a total of 11 stitches. I went with 3 for a solid garter edge. Just my preference. =)

The main piece is a basic 6 increase shawl – 4 increases on the right side and 2 increases on the wrong side. There is 1 stitch in the center and three stitches each side for the garter edge. Check out the various shawl construction types here on Craftsy for the wide and shallow triangle shawl or if you’d like a different shape.

Work each color in these two rows until you cannot work a complete row. This leftover yarn will be used for the tassels.

End the 4th color after a right side row, knit row (inc 4 row). Begin wrong side row with the 5th/last color and work as a normal wrong side row (inc 2 row).

If you are using less than 5 colors, note that the lace edging section is worked with the 5th mini-skein being a little under 100 yards.

Lace Edging:

Set up Row (WS): Work garter edge stitches and purl to the last 3 stitches, you will no longer be increasing for the rest of the shawl. Work last 3 garter stitches.

Row 1 (RS): Work garter edge stitches, repeat (k2tog, yo) across until the center stitch. Depending on how many stitches you have you will either come to 1 stitch before the center stitch, or just the center stitch.

If you have 1 stitch before the center stitch: yo, slip 2 as if to knit, knit 1, psso, yo. This should give you a neat centered decrease. Repeat (ssk, yo) to the last 3 stitches, work garter edge stitches.

If you have just the center stitch: knit 1. Repeat (yo, ssk) to the last three stitches, yo, and then work the garter edge stitches.

So now you’ve got your first set of eyelets going. The right side should be slanting slightly to the right and the left side should be slanting slightly to the left.

Repeat this eyelet pattern across again (rows 1 and 2). (total of 4 rows worked! yay!)

Row 5 (RS): Next, to create the subtle zig-zag effect, on the right side of the shawl work garter edge stitches, repeat (yo, ssk) to the center stitch. Work the center as previously noted in Row 2 depending on how many stitches you have available.

On the other side of the center stitch if you did the center decrease: Repeat (k2tog, yo) to the last 3 stitches, work garter edge stitches.

If you did not do the center decrease simply continue to repeat (yo, k2tog) to the last three stitches, yo, and then work the garter edge stitches.

Row 6 (WS): Work as Row 3.

Repeat this eyelet pattern across again (rows 5 and 6). (total of 8 rows worked! yay!)

Row 9 (RS): Work as Row 2.

Row 10 (WS): Work as Row 3.

Bind off loosely knitwise. I prefer the double knit method: Knit 1 (knit 1, slip both stitches back to the left hand needle, knit together through the back loop), repeat. This should leave it nice and sproingy for blocking the edge out to points, or giving the shawl a nice curve. Your choice! =)

Tassels:

I used my H Loome, you can use any piece of cardboard or pegboard you have at about 3″. If you’re not familiar with tassel making, watch this video! (does not require the Loome)

Make 3 tassels.

For my tassels I did this:

Step 1: Cut off extra yarn from the edges of the shawl, leaving a tail long enough to weave in.

Step 2: Take the two shortest pieces and cut them in half.

Step 3: Taking one of each color of the yarn you just cut in half, wrap them onto the Loom for making a tassel.

I happened to only have three usable pieces of leftover yarn to use for the tassels. If I make this again, I think I will purposely stop each color earlier so that I make sure to have a little bit of each color in all my tassels.

I also made sure to use more yarn for the third tassel and placed it as the center stitch decoration. I managed to make it a little bit longer than the other two by wrapping loosely around my H Loome.

Note about blocking:

For a subtle wave, I blocked out the top of the shawl as straight as I could, and then every 5 k2tog/ssk column along the bottom edge. (I really need to get my mitts on blocking wires!)

Attach tassels to the two opposite corners and the bottom center stitch, weave in loose ends. Wear and enjoy!

*I am not sponsored to produce this blog post. All products mentioned were purchased with my own money and are things that I enjoy using. *